If the work proves to be a success, than the concept of time as
it’s currently understood could be changed drastically and allow
a whole new idea of accuracy to prevail.

According to a study published by the researchers this week in
the Nature Physics scholarly journal, it might soon be possible
to harness the power of a global quantum network of clocks to
“allow construction of a real-time single international time
scale (world clock) with unprecedented stability and accuracy.”

“Using nonlocal entangled states, we demonstrate an optimal
utilization of global resources, and show that such a network can
be operated near the fundamental precision limit set by quantum
theory,” reads an abstract of their report. “Furthermore,
the internal structure of the network, combined with quantum
communication techniques, guarantees security both from internal
and external threats.”

Broken down, the scientists’ project isn’t all that complicated.
Alexandra Witze wrote for the Nature website that, essentially, the
researchers are relying on two ideas that are already major
points of focus for physicists: atomic clocks as they currently
exist, and quantum entanglement, “in which pairs of particles
become linked in such a way that measuring a property of one of
them instantaneously determines the same property for the
other,” she wrote.

By linking a network of orbiting, atomic clocks, those two
schools of study may be able to be merged and provide physicists
with what would unarguably be the most precise clock in
existence. The scientists' response for the Nature Physics story
says linking 10 such atomic clocks and putting them into
satellite may be the way to proceed.

“One satellite, as the network's center, would start by
preparing its clock particles in an entangled state. It would
then communicate with a neighboring satellite to extend the
entanglement there. The linking would eventually spread through
the whole fleet, joining the satellites in one quantum
network,” Witze wrote.

“You’d be able to see someone digging a tunnel under the
US-Mexico border from space,” Chris Monroe, a physicist at
the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland in
College Park, told Science News this week.

Eric Kessler, a co-author of the paper, told Nature that his
colleagues’ proposal, while still in the planning stages, is
admittedly “a little bit visionary.” Nevertheless, the
researchers believe the blueprint does exist to take the theory
behind quantum physics and create a network of atomic clocks that
would be more accurate than anything ever available.

“All the building blocks have been demonstrated in principle,
and we want to show what might lie ahead if all these fields
merge together,” Kessler said.

“There’s no doubt this is a very futuristic proposal,”
said Kessler. “We’ve got a long way to go.”